Osram’s 140mW direct green laser enables projection from smartphones

Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany says that its new PLT3 520D direct green laser diode achieves an unprecedented high pulse output of 140mW. In addition, its efficiency has been increased to a typical value of 8%. Due to these improvements, it is now possible to turn a smartphone into a small cinema projector, since the small display of the device can be enlarged several times over.

Green lasers for projector applications need to have not only outstanding beam characteristics but also high optical performance in order to deliver sharp and bright images. Although a projector also needs red and blue lasers, green is the crucial color in RGB solutions – and also the color that poses the greatest challenges in production.

Up to now, RGB laser projections for smartphones, based on a red, green and blue laser, often had brightness problems due to the often insufficient brightness of the green laser. Green light has special importance in RGB applications because the human eye is most sensitive in the green spectral range. The brighter the green laser shines on a surface, the brighter and stronger the projected image appears to the viewer.

With its PLT3 520D now offering 140mW at a current of 300mA in pulsed mode (50% duty cycle), Osram has achieved what is claimed to be unprecedented performance for a green single-mode laser. Up to now, the limit for these components was 80mW.

A further advantage of the diode is its compact and space-saving TO38 metal housing, with a diameter of only 3.8mm. With an emission wavelength of 520nm, the laser diode has been specially developed for laser projection applications that use a MEMS scanner as the image encoder.

“Thanks to Osram’s long tradition and expertise in the laser sector, we have succeeded in driving forward developments in this key technology,” says marketing manager Pedro Muñoz. “Users can be confident that this technology will open up additional functions on smartphones in the medium term.”

Tags: Osram Green laser

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